SERBIA: Unfair Elections & more – 27th Feb 2024

Dobar dan from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 27th of February twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Friday the 23rd the watchdog organization Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability, or CRTA, published its report on the most recent parliamentary and local Belgrade elections, concluding that they were not free or fair. CRTA reported irregularities in around ten percent of polling stations for the parliamentary elections and in twenty percent of balloting places for the Belgrade local elections. Their report said that the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, gained more votes by participating in illegal activities. These included pressuring voters, forging signatures, and falsifying the publication date of the election results in the Official Gazette to prevent the opposition from filing appeals with the Constitutional Court before the legal deadline expired. The CRTA also called out the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government for defending President Vucic and the SNS after the electoral fraud allegations.

Moreover, Prime Minister Brnabic said that the government will never allow an international investigation into the parliamentary and the local Belgrade elections, adding that SNS did not steal any votes. She said that an international investigation would be a “humiliation for the country” since it would mean that foreign organizations managed to disrupt peace within the nation. Brnabic was adamant that the elections were legitimate, adding that the international observers did not stop the process at any point, which she said is proof of no election fraud.

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, or ODIHR, had previously given recommendations on how to improve the election conditions to ensure that they are free and fair. One of these recommendations was the launching of an independent investigation into the alleged election fraud. Despite rejecting their main recommendation, Brnabic added that Serbia wants to continue its cooperation with ODIHR, further working on strengthening human rights and democracy.

On that note about elections, president Vucic has confirmed that the consultations regarding the formation of the new government will begin this week. He appeared on Radio Television of Serbia, or RTS, a state-owned TV company, and said that he is prepared to talk about the parliamentary and local Belgrade elections. Vucic told RTS that he is worried about the tensions in Serbian society that occurred after the allegations of electoral fraud. Vucic also blamed the media for the unrest in the country and said that certain media outlets were pushing the narrative about the illegitimacy of the elections, which he thought was false and destructive. The representative of the opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence, however, said that the coalition would not take part in the consultations, adding that their participation would mean accepting the election results.

On Tuesday the 20th, Branimir Nestorovic, one of the founders of the opposition movement We – The Voice of the People Movement, left in protest after a disagreement within the leadership. According to the group’s press release, Nestorovic demanded to be the sole party leader despite an agreement to remain true to the original principle of a collective leadership made up of the seven founders.

The movement was left to decide whether the Belgrade local elections would be rerun or not since no party claimed the majority of votes. If We - The voice of the people entered a coalition with the ruling party, the elections would not be rerun because the SNS would have the majority in the Belgrade City Assembly.

Vucic has mentioned on several occasions that he is looking at Nestorovic’s movement for support in SNS’s mission to secure a majority. However, Nestorovic said that his assembly councilors would not support anyone in particular.

In other news, Besnik Bislimi, Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and chief negotiator, rejected the EU's invitation for a meeting regarding the ban on the Serbian Dinar in Kosovo. Miroslav Lajcak, the EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, intended to discuss the ban as part of the Belgrade-Pristina normalization dialogue. However, Bislimi disagreed, adding that the normalization process should not feature such an issue, and said that he would meet with Lajcak when he is ready to discuss the Basic Agreement, which Kosovo’s PM Kurti and President Vucic verbally agreed to. Bislimi also accused Lajcak of violating his principles, noting that in twenty twenty-one, Lajcak determined that no topic could be added to the normalization dialogue agenda without Kosovo and Serbia approving it.

More on bilateral relations as, on Saturday the 24th, hundreds of people gathered in Belgrade for a march in support of Ukraine, marking two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The crowd gathered in Pioneer Park and marched to Republic Square, waving Ukrainian flags and displaying messages asking for peace. The demonstrators lit candles and held a minute of silence for the victims of the war.

Despite the march and the messages of support, president Vucic keeps repeating that he does not intend to impose sanctions on Russia. In spite of numerous appeals from the West, Vucic has refused to cut ties with Russia for its aggression against Ukraine, whilst simultaneously saying he condemns its attacks. He insists that Serbia considers Russia an ally and a friend, adding that it would be unfair to betray such relations by imposing sanctions. Vucic said that he intends to uphold his decision for as long as he can, and said that he hopes he will not be pressured to change it, referring to the EU’s intent to condition Serbia’s accession with the sanctioning of Russia.

Many countries noticed Vucic’s favoritism towards Russia, with some of them going as far as calling him out for it. For instance, Croatia’s foreign minister Gordan Grlic Radman described Vucic as Russia’s ally who intended to spread the invading country’s influence, which he deemed “malign”. Radman said that Vucic needs to declare which side he is on, as his lack of sanctions on Russia and the simultaneous condemnation of their aggression are contradictory and confusing.

Vucic responded to Radman on Sunday the 25th in a statement, calling him out for interfering in the country’s internal affairs. Serbia’s Foreign Ministry said that they expect Croatian officials to lead a policy of reconciliation and good-neighborly relations with the country. Croatia has since denied the allegations of interfering in the nation’s internal matters, explaining that they only stated the facts about Serbia’s influence in the Balkans.

On a more positive note, on Thursday the 22nd, Dubravka Djedovic, the minister of Mining and Energy, met with the EU Ambassador to Serbia in order to discuss the EU's growth plan for the Balkan countries. Djedovic presented Serbia’s plans in the energy sector, which are focused on energy transition and diversification of supply sources. She noted that EU’s funding is crucial for Serbia’s green transition, since the country needs sustainable financing. The EU has allocated more than six billion dollars for the growth plan for the next four years, aiming to accelerate reforms and the accession of Balkan countries to the EU.

Speaking of the environment, the city of Belgrade is facing a wastewater issue, as untreated sewage is spewing into the Sava River due to the lack of treatment plants for wastewater. This issue is harming the animals in the river and has made the residents stop eating fish from the Sava River, as it could be unsafe. The sewage spill is also creating an unpleasant environment for those living near the waters, as the smell of the pollutants is foul.

Currently, Serbia is processing only fifteen percent of urban wastewater. The aim is to process over ninety percent, a requirement the EU imposed on Serbia to join the union.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week.

Do you know that besides the Serbia Update, we also do others? Our latest ones are the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the earth covered in salt water, and the Multilateral update about all the world's major multilateral institutions. The other ones are all country updates, we have a selection of countries from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. Check roroshok.com/updates to see the full list. We left the link in the show notes as well.

Do daljnjeg, zbogom!